Housing scam: Framing of charges ordered against P.K. Thungan
"Prima facie, I find sufficient material to proceed with the criminal trial of all the accused persons," said Special CBI Judge R K Yadav, making it clear that none of the 18 accused, including the Congress leader, merited discharge from the case.
"Vide separate order, I have dealt with the framing of charges against the accused," said the court which would formally frame charges against them on November one.
Besides Thungan, 17 others, including the then additional personal secretary of Urban Development Minister Sheila Kaul, were named as accused in 1996 by the probe agency for allegedly receiving illegal gratification from around 102 government employees for granting out-of-turn accommodation.
All the accused have been booked under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act, dealing with cheating and accepting illegal gratification.
The court hinted that it may take exception of the CBI's chargesheet in which some of the suspects have been given clean chit and their names did not figure in the list of the accused.
Earlier, it had imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on Thungan while cancelling the non-bailable warrants which was issued against him after he failed to appear during earlier hearing.
The FIR was lodged on February 14, 1996 following a Supreme Court order on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the controversial government policy on house allotment.
Source:The Hindu
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